a message from WMU-AAUP Chief Negotiator Andrew Hennlich and WMU-AAUP President Cathryn Bailey
After a grueling fight extending a month beyond the negotiation deadline, the WMU-AAUP Executive Committee has approved a complete tentative agreement (TA) on the 2024-26 Contract reopener of Articles 32 and 33. Critical details have been provided directly to members to help prepare for an upcoming ratification vote. While the WMU-AAUP did not get everything proposed, the overall results are very good. It is evident that members’ powerful demonstrations of solidarity have had impacts both on these negotiations, and, we anticipate, on future negotiations and WMU labor dynamics in general. The fact that our entire contract—including both of these Articles—will be up for renegotiation in less than two years from now may serve as helpful context as you consider where we’ve landed now.
For additional context about the unusual nature of the fight we’ve been engaged in during this incredibly challenging “wage reopener,” please see the post linked here and that was separately sent by email to the full membership on Sept. 9. In short, after the negotiation deadline passed on August 30th, the WMU Administration no longer had any clear obligation to provide the faculty with a salary raise. As Article 49 of the WMU/WMU-AAUP Agreement states, the Administration could simply choose to implement its last official offer once negotiations continued past the August 30th deadline (subject to continued bargaining by both sides), but, again, had no obligation to do so. As we had previously noted, this helps explain why they were so willing to drag their feet about salary raises as the deadline approached.
In short, after that deadline passed, and with the Administration’s generally dismissive attitude to faculty concerns consistently on display, the threat loomed that the faculty might get no raise at all. Indeed, we are confident that it is only due to intense pressure from WMU-AAUP members and allies that the Administration has now agreed to a higher number than its previous last official offer (as of August 30), even if this higher figure is still not as high as we would like. Indeed, if the Administration had felt it could get away with agreeing to no raise at all, we don’t doubt that that is what they would have done. In any case, the salary increase figure in this approved tentative agreement is as follows: A total increase of 7.25%, that is, 4% in 2024-25 (retroactively applied), and 3.25% in 2025-26, with an additional one-time lump-sum-payment of $1000 in 2025-26.
Although the WMU-AAUP did not get everything we had proposed, and that the faculty deserve, we have taken some strong steps forward. For one thing, some revised negotiation approaches, including the Chapter’s use of a healthcare analyst, has helped empower the WMU-AAUP in ways that should impact future negotiations and labor relations more generally. In addition, the historically impressive turnout of members and allies at rallies and demonstrations has sent a clear message of strength and determination that will be felt well into the future and in multiple arenas. While WMU employees have many remaining fights to reclaim and restore our university’s academic heart, the energy and solidarity of the past few months will propel us forward.
Following WMU-AAUP procedures, the next steps regarding negotiations are as follows:
-The WMU-AAUP will present the tentative agreements on Article 32 and 33 and will field questions from members at the 11 October all-member Chapter meeting.
-In the days following the October 11 meeting, the full tentative agreement will be put to a ratification vote of the full membership.
Strength in solidarity 